Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday that the West was not keeping its promise to help bring Russian agricultural and fertilizer exports to global markets, raising potential doubts about Russia’s commitment to a landmark grain export deal with Ukraine.

Sergey LavrovPhoto: press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation / AP / Profimedia

Lavrov said the West had not eased sanctions to make it easier for Russia to transport its agricultural products abroad, Reuters and Agerpres reported.

According to him, Moscow considers this commitment as a key component of the agreement concluded in July with the mediation of the UN and Turkey to end the blockade of grain exports from southern Ukrainian ports and reduce the risk of a global food crisis.

“Our Western colleagues are not doing what the UN Secretary General promised us,” Lavrov said at a press conference in Moscow. “They do not make decisions about the lifting of logistical sanctions that prevent the free access of Russian grain and fertilizers to world markets,” the Russian minister added.

Moscow says that Western sanctions make it more difficult to contract for transport vessels and to insure those transports, although the sanctions do not directly target exports of agricultural products and fertilizers.

Minister Lavrov also said that he maintains contacts with the United Nations and puts pressure on the world organization so that Western countries adhere to their part of the grain export agreement.

The agreement remains the only significant diplomatic progress in the six-month war Russia has waged against Ukraine.

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